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I'm at the airport in Amsterdam waiting board my flight to New Delhi. I'll be there for almost a week to attend and speak at Doors of Perception. The doctor in Amsterdam said that I didn't need malaria pills even though many of my friends are taking them. I hope they're right.

See you on the other side. This is only my second time in New Delhi and I'm looking forward to meeting everyone and getting to know the city better.

If you are concerned about malaria, just get malarone or doxycycline pills. They don't need to be taken beforehand, and maybe only take them for a few days once out of the zone. Avoid mefloquine/lariam. It can have severe side effects and you need to take it well in advance to get fully protected. If you are staying in a major city, you should be OK.

The people here in Delhi seem to think I don't need to take malaria pills so I'll trust their advice.

It was a late flight and I arrived around midnight. In the car from the airport, I was wondering whether they would have room service and currency exchange...

The place I'm staying a bit more basic. The door lock is a padlock the showering aparatus involves buckets... (not sure exactly how it works) There is a tiny bar of soap and some sort of tank plugged into the wall. I assume it's the hot water, but there doesn't seem to be too much of it. It was a bit shocking at first, but I guess it will be a good experience for me after all of those expensive European hotels. I should probably kill all of the mosquitos in my room before I go to bed though.

I don't really know where I'm supposed to go tomorrow, but maybe I should just sleep. It will probably be a bit more normal feeling in the morning...

You might get (many) mosquito bites, but don't worry. And if you get to an area where theres malaria another time, use Malarone as Peter suggest. That is the ones with almost none sideeffects (whereas others has so serious sideeffects malaria might be to prefer - no kidding).

I just was four weeks in Sri Lanka and India and got 3-400 mosquito bites. You get used to it. And by the way; many of the things you can put on your skin to keep mosquitoes away is (besides feeling odd and smelling bad) more dangerous to you than them. One member of our entourage got malaria-looking seekness for four days after getting some of it in her mouth.

I'm positively SHOCKED that you've been put up in a 2-star hotel by the organisers. That's really not Indian Hospitality as it's supposed to be. And certainly not expected from the organisers of an international event.

In any case, I'm glad you're looking at the bright side of it and treating it as a different experience! I'm sure you'll learn a lot :-)

Do enjoy your stay while you're there.

Oh and you can buy 220V-to-110V adaptors from any electronics shop there.

You've caught the last bits of what passes for Spring here. The heat will become decidedly unbearable after Holi on the 25th.

I wouldn't worry about malaria. If the mosquitos bother you, ask your hotel to provide you with a Mosquito coil. Stab one with the vicious little metal stand provided in the pack and light one end like an incense stick. Tortoise is a popular brand. You can also get Prallethrin impregnated mosquito mat burners with reassuring names like All-Out and Hit! that plug into a wall socket.

A trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal will cost you a day. The Taj Express leaves at an ungodly hour in the morning and chugs back in around 10pm. It's a slow 3 hour train ride through the countryside in one direction. You'll be treated to some interesting spectacles.

Assuming your hotel is somewhere in South-Central Delhi, you could visit one of the ornamental gardens, Nehru Park or Lodhi Gardens, in the evening or early morning. Other places to visit - Red Fort (Laal Quila) and the Jama Masjid in the North just outside the walled city, Humayun's Tomb and gardens and Safdarjung's tomb in central Delhi, the Qutab Minar and the Ba'hai Lotus Temple near infamous Nehru Place, the "IT hub" of the city.

Connaught Place (C.P.), the colonial marketplace is currently being tunneled under by the Delhi Metro Rail Corp. You can pick up a few knick-knacks at the Khadi Gramodyog in C.P. or the nearby Cottage Industries Showroom. Avoid the tourist traps.

The room wasn't as scary in the morning but decided to move to the Habitat World at the India Habitat Centre were the conference is. Apologies for stressing anyone out. Now I have a dialup Internet connection at least. They have wifi, but my Mac doesn't seem to want to talk to it.

Met a man from New Delhi in China in 2001. For some reason, he told me not to visit his city! But of course, that just makes me want to go even more. Hope you have fun and meet some cool people; Indians are super-friendly and remind me of Brazilian "talkivness", ueberfriendliness, and spontaneaity (sic?)